1. Social and Family Life
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. The upper class in a Sumerian society consisted of nobles, priests, government officials and warriors. The middle class, or " Freeman", were made up of artisans, traders and merchants. The lower class people were the slaves.
1.1.2. Sumerians elected monarchs to rule over the common folk. Governments drafted people to work on community projects, and they were obliged to pay taxes to the government in the form of a percentage of their crops, which the city could either sell or use to feed its soldiers and others it supported
1.1.3. The Sumerian family has little variation from modern day. Each household consisted of a mother, father, children, and extended family. Both men and women worked while the children's lives were directed according to their gender and social status.
1.1.4. Male children of the upper classes went to school, while their sisters remained at home and learned domestic arts. Sons of the lower classes followed in their father's line of work, while the daughters, as with the upper classes, emulated their mother’s role in her job.
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. The Zhou Dynasty ruled with a Confucian Social Hierarchy.
1.2.2. The social structure of the Confucian belief starts with emperors as the upper class, with scholars following at a closely behind them, farmers in front of merchants, and merchants before slaves and women.
1.2.3. Citizens during the Shang Dynasty were put into four classes: the king and the aristocracy, the military, the artisans and craftsmen, and the peasants. The aristocracy were the most highly respected social class and were responsible for governing small areas of the dynasty.
1.2.4. The Shang Dynasty was the first true civilization in China. They centralized government, they built strong cities and began the Chinese culture.
2. Religion
2.1. Sumerians
2.1.1. The people believed their purpose was to serve the gods. Serving the gods also meant feeding them, so they would offer their crops to the temple.
2.1.2. They were polytheistic, and they believed that the chief god was the sky god, Enlil.
2.1.3. Each household and city had its own god. And everything that happened on Earth involved a god.
2.1.4. Kings represented an earthen patron god. So this meant that the people must also serve the king as they would a god. Kings had complete authority over their subjects.
2.1.5. The sky god, Enlil.
2.2. Shang/Zhou
2.2.1. The Shang dynasty was polytheistic. And they also worshiped their ancestors. They worshipped ancestors because they believed that if the ancestors were happy then the crops would be successful.
2.2.2. The Shang believed in an afterlife in which a ruler would still have riches and servants.
2.2.3. They often asked their deceased ancestors questions through oracle bones where they would pose a question the a hot metal piece would be placed on an animal bone causing cracks to form in it. Then a priest would study it to try and read what it said.
2.2.4. The Zhou dynasty believed in Confucianism. Confucius would often say stuff about philosophy and virtues to teach people about good character.
2.2.5. Confucianism
3. Geography and Agriculture
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. The region is a vast ,dry plain through which two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, flow.
3.1.2. The land was too dry to grow crops on. So instead it was home to herders of goats and sheep. Near the rivers the soil is very fertile which gets deposited during the spring floods.
3.1.3. The Sumerians grew wheat and barley. Sheep and cattle were some of the species cultivated and raised by them.
3.1.4. The rivers rise in mountain ranges flowing through the north before flowing through the Mesopotamia sea
3.2. Shang/Zhou
3.2.1. The Zhou is divided into the western Zhou and the Eastern Zhou.
3.2.2. example
3.2.3. They farmed millet, wheat, rice and barley provided the major source of food.
3.2.4. They domesticated many animals to help with farming including pig, dogs sheep, oxen and even silkworms
3.2.5. The Zhou Dynasty was originally located to the west of the Shang dynasty but after the defeat of the Shang, the borders were extended as far south as the Chang Jiang River and east to the Yellow Sea.
4. Science and Technology
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. Seeder plow was a major technological achievements. Carrying out tasks of seeding and plowing simultaneously
4.1.2. The Sumerians poked holes in levees plants to create and irrigation system for water.
4.1.3. They revolutionized transportation with the invention of the wheel
4.1.4. They also revolutionized math by creating the "Pythagorean theorem"
4.2. Shang/Zhou
4.2.1. The Shang/Zhou was known for using bronze to fashion weapons, armour and parts of chariots
4.2.2. The Shang/Zhou introduced the horse drawn chariot. Also made impressions for tools.
4.2.3. Developed technology for irrigation, drainage, waterways, canals, dikes, and dams.
4.2.4. The Shang/Zhou also made advancements in iron production to make stronger farm tools
5. Arts and Education
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. Sumerian architecture consisted of ramps, archways, and columns.
5.1.2. Sumerians used cylinder seals to create designs on a clay tablet or make their mark on a document or show ownership.
5.1.3. Sumerians carved small statues out of ivory and often times larger statues had large, open eyes .
5.1.4. The Sumerian writing was called cuneiform. Cuneiform writing consisted of using sharp tools to make wedge-shaped symbols on a clay tablet. They used writing to keep track of business endeavors, but soon wrote short stories and laws.
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. Artists in the Shang dynasty created intricate vases and other art out of bronze. The Zhou dynasty made swords and art out of iron because it was cheaper and easier to make things out of.
5.2.2. They used oracle bones as one of the first developments of their writing, often times actually writing on the bones. They uses pictures and symbols to show meaning.
5.2.3. They created one of the first systems of money. The Zhou dynasty introduced coins to their society.
5.2.4. The created calendars off of the cycles of the moon.
6. Government and Leaders
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. Because of their worship in gods priests and priestesses help a high social status among the Sumerians. They often governed the city states.
6.1.2. When the city-states began to battle for dominance the war chiefs began to take over. The chiefs became kings and ruled over the city states.
6.1.3. The kings performed religious ceremonies to please the gods and saw themselves as the gods chief representatives.The kings city states soon formed a dynasty, a series of rulers from one family.
6.1.4. For defensive purposes a giant wall surrounded each city-state. The wall was used for protection against the other city-states that fought over the same land and water.
6.2. Shang/Zhou
6.2.1. The government consisted of a monocracy. The king's court was made of wealthy nobles who performed rituals to keep the city safe.
6.2.2. An army was kept to keep the people from rebelling. The army was also used for fighting off warring territories. Often farmers were called to join this army or work alongside slaves to build projects like walls and buildings.
6.2.3. The king appointed governors to oversee the different regions of the kingdom.
6.2.4. When the Zhou overthrew the Shang, they created a Mandate of God. This stated that the gods would reward a just king and punish a king who abused his power. They said that this was the reason the Shang dynasty was overthrown.
7. Economy and Trade
7.1. Sumerians
7.1.1. Trade was firmly established with foreign lands at this time while writing went from pictograms to actual script.
7.1.2. Trade motivated people to write because it increases communication including long distance.
7.1.3. Trade caused a social ranking system to emerge. Which also made men have more power over women.
7.1.4. They got many materials for buildings and art by trading and exchanging woven textiles for raw materials such as metal and timber
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. The Zhou dynasty didn't trade much because the goods circulated through gifts and offering tributes.
7.2.2. As the population grew it allowed irrigation systems to be built and more transportation and communication.
7.2.3. They introduced coins to China and started to use chopsticks.
7.2.4. Once the Zhou dynasty learned how to use iron it became the backbone of their economy. They used it to make weapons, which also made their army much stronger.